Immigration and Refugees
As the Tories slide into an ever deepening pit of desperation, their determination to offer despair as a solution also increases. Nothing provides a better example than the deliberate misreporting of facts – ably assisted by the establishment media – designed to confuse and conflate the two quite separate issues of immigration on the one hand and people seeking asylum on the other. The latter group of-course are those that fall into the category described by the Tories and their media mates as the people in the ‘small boats’ or even worse as ‘illegal immigrants’. The Government wants the community to see all immigrants as illegal and speaks about the Rwanda solution as what’s required to stem the flow of immigration.
The truth of course is very different. People seeking asylum in the UK – forced to risk their lives in the small boats due to the Governments shutting down other more traditional avenues – are a relatively small group compared to the bulk of immigrants entering the country essentially via invitation. Those who are refugees or asylum seekers, including from the Ukraine and the Afghan relocation and resettlement scheme make up 21% of the total of all immigrants.
In spite of the facts, day after day sees the Government declaring their intention to clamp down on immigrants and quoting the figures for ALL immigrants as if they were ALL asylum seekers and pretending that if their grubby deal with Rwanda were to come off, immigration would cease.
Net migration as at June of 2023 was 672,00. The vast bulk of these were clearly NOT asylum seekers. They are people considered as required skilled labour and the Tories are suggesting ‘solutions’ that include putting a ceiling on how much an overseas skilled worker can earn in the UK and preventing overseas skilled workers from bringing their families to the UK. It is more than possible that such measures will succeed in discouraging skilled workers from coming here but it won’t solve the problem as to why we NEED those workers here and the reason is simple. As part of the neo-liberal capitalist philosophy of opposing Government investment in – let’s face it just about anything other than corporate welfare – the Government has steadfastly refused to invest in new industry and occupational training.
So, stand by for more Government media sponsored lies deliberately conflating the need for immigration created by their refusal to do what’s needed, with the issue of asylum seekers.
